Handy
Tip:URL
encoding is usually implemented when creating website forms. It
enables correct passing of textual information that may otherwise
have been lost or jumbled in transit.

URL Encode and Decode Generator
Tool

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding refers
to taking simple text strings and converting them into URL format. URL
format means the encoded text only contains alpha, digit, safe, extra
and escape characters. In short, this means the text won't contain characters
such as spaces, # or / symbols. There is no need to go into detail about
this here but if you want to learn more about URL format visit World
Wide Web Consortium.

When and why would
you use URL encoding?

URL encoding is often
used within website forms to enable efficient passing of textual information.
For example, a webmaster may have a blog form on his website so visitors
can type in their comments and have them displayed on the page. If these
comments were to contain special characters such as a # symbol, the blog
form may not transfer that specific information correctly due to symbols
having different meanings. For instance the person filling in the form
may be talking about C++ programming and might say something like:

"#includes
are needed at the start of each c++ file".

However the form script
could take it that the # symbol is refering to a webpage anchor instead
of displaying it as simple text.

URL Encode Generator Tool
- Makes any text into URL format.

Use the online tool
below to either encode or decode a string of text. Where it says 'Character
encoding' you can use the drop down list to choose either ASCII or UTF-8.
ASCII refers to characters shown on our ASCII
Table If you choose ASCII encoding and your text contains non-ASCII
characters, a warning message will let you know. Then you simply need
to try again using UTF-8.

If you find this generator
useful please:

URL decoded text:

URL encoded text:

|
| Character encoding:

This tool is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and requires
JavaScript to be enabled in your browser.

Real example of how you would
use the URL encoding generator above to promote your website with Digg:

Digg
is a social content website which means every webpage displayed on the
service has been recommended by its members. Webmasters can place digg
buttons on their webpages so visitors can digg (recommend) their site.
The more diggs a website gets, the more chance of them being seen on the
main directory pages.

Diggs are made by
linking text or images to this url:

How to link a digg
button.

You need to change
where it says: www.storyurl.com
to the address of your own website. But firstly you need to URL encode
it by typing your address into the generator above then press Encode button.
It is then with the URL encoded text that you replace www.storyurl.com

Next step is to URL
encode a title for your website to replace where it says: YourStoryTitle
Maximum length for titles is 75 characters.

Thirdly do the same
for where it says: YourStoryDescription.
Maximum length for story descriptions is 350 characters.

Note: there is no need to URL encode the topic because there are no special
characters or spaces in their names.